


Wanna Live

by dooomninja



Series: Hearts [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hallucinations, Minor Character(s), Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Polyamory, Pre-Poly, Slow Burn, Teen Titans References, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dooomninja/pseuds/dooomninja
Summary: For those who have come to this fic without reading either of the previous; don't feel you have to read them, there is a summary at the start that should catch you up on the most important points.Following on from the events of 'Hearts: Painted Black'; after Steph had recovered from her injuries, she joins the Team; only for Batman to invite her to join a new team. But even with everything she had known fallen to ruins, Steph isn't one to take it lying down. Now new friends and new adventures await.
Relationships: Cassie Sandsmark/Kara Zor-El, Stephanie Brown/Cassie Sandsmark, Stephanie Brown/Cassie Sandsmark/Kara Zor-El, Stephanie Brown/Kara Zor-El
Series: Hearts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/812109
Kudos: 2





	1. A Soldier I Will Be: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie Brown first heard of Cassandra Cain as the pet project of her -then-boyfriend, Tim Drake. Through him, Cass comes to Gotham and -along with Harper Row- they become fast friends, so when Tim ditches her to run off and form the Teen Titans, it is natural for the three girls to team up. Everything goes great until David Cain (Cass's abusive father) attacks, trying to reclaim his prize. Steph almost dies to a dose of lethal neurotoxin. Only upon regaining consciousness does she find out that Harper was captured, and that Cass died rescuing her.

She flexes the fingers of her hand, tensing and bending each joint in turn, closing her hand into a tight fist then stretching it out again then wiggling her fingers.

"We good?"

“Fine. I'm fine,” She replies, pulling her glove back on, wishing that she could put feeling into either; Her words, or fingers. She can feel the concern bleeding off of Duke as he watches her, and she can't help but roll her eyes under her mask.

Thankfully she is saved from any awkward questions by Damian calling back to them, "I have eyes on him. If you three can't keep it professional, I will do this myself."

Steph steps up behind him to look at what he sees; while placing a hand gently on his head. He brushes it off but doesn't move away. Down on the street below she can see Jervis Tetch in a light grey suit, with a black tie, white shirt and gloves. His ginger hair is neatly trimmed and groomed. They watch him drain a bottle of water and throws it into a bin.

"That's Tetch?" Cissie asks, "for a mad hatter he is kind of -well- hatless." 

"No hats. It's a condition of his parole." Steph replies, not looking away from their mark.

"Hu, well good thing he's not called the mad panther." 

Steph knows that she should find it funny. But she has been having a hard time finding the humour in any situations since the incident.

"He's heading for his night job, right on schedule." Duke says, "although..."

"The water," Steph replies, as below Tetch opens another bottle and drains that too.

"Yeah."

"ah... water?" Cissie asks a couple of steps behind the bats.

"he is drinking a lot of it. awfully fast." Duke informs her

They dart forward following him down the street from the rooftops until Tetch throws a bottle away on the pavement. Three sets of feet land silently on the ground around it, and Steph picks it up to take a look. Held at eye level, she can just make out the dirt settling to the bottom of the bottle as they watch. Maybe more like clay than dirt.

"So... do we bust him for littering?" 

"Clay backwash," Duke says still fixated on the bottle.

"Gross. So you thinking?" Steph says, looking over at Duke, she wonders what more he can see than the rest of them.

"It's possible."

"We would need to find a way to check. Wait, where's Robin?" Steph has a sinking feeling in her gut as the other two look around at her words. she is pretty sure she knows where he has gone, always like him to rush off, dangerously certain he is doing the right thing. They chase down Tetch, sure that is where Damian will be going. 

They catch up -a little too late- as Damian's Katana cuts Tetch in half with a squelch and a mess of mud! 

So at least they were right!

Damian flips away from Clayface as the rest of them catch up. Duke is leading with Cissie behind him and Steph bringing up the rear. From her position at the back Steph can make out; Cissie, loading up her bow and Duke, drawing his eskrima sticks.

Cissie asks Damian, "Did you know Tetch was really Clayface? or just not care?"

Damian only manages to respond with his characteristic 'tut' before Clayface yells at them, "your going to regret that kid!" and proceeds to grow two more arms and starts attacking!

Steph and Duke grapple upwards away from the line of his attacks and Damian slips underneath them, but Arrowette gets grabbed at pulled forwards. Damian cut through the mud grappling her, severing it from Clayface and freeing Cissie so she can take a shot with an exploding arrow that hits Clayface in his big gooey face, just as Duke lands behind him.

Duke slips past all the attacks keeping Clayface distracted long enough for Steph to drop some stunning charges (plus a couple of other things) down on him. They almost certainly have the advantage -both in numbers and skill while Clayface seems just to be lashing out in blind fury- on the other hand, they are completely under-equipped to take him down either. The longer this fight goes on, the better for him, and the worse it is for them. All it will take is one slip up.

Steph can hear Arrowette and Signal questioning why Clayface would be working with Tetch, none of them had heard anything about them being friends before. that only means that the most likely reason is the mad Hatter's famous mind control. So Steph calls out loud enough for all of them (and Clayface) to hear, "It doesn't matter, we know where Tetch is so forget Clayface. Let's go get Hatter!"

"NOOO!" Clayface screams, panic tainting his murky voice as he dives into a grate and flees away.

Cissie looks up at her, confused in her voice, "but we don't know where Tetch is!"

"But Clayface clearly does." Steph replies, "And I tossed a liquid tracker on him."

"Nice!" Duke says appreciatively, but Damian seems less impressed.

"Apparently, you are more competent than it first appears."

Steph drops from her perch next to him and ruffles his hair affectionately, "and I will take that as the highest form of compliment Dami!"

"No real names in the field." he says, storming off in the direction the tracker (that is now showing up on all their HUDs) is moving. But Steph can spot the little flush under his mask from being embarrassed and the little spring in his step as he runs.

They fly through the streets above while Clayface cuts a path below. From the direction he is heading they estimate that he is heading for Kane docks. he stops inside one of the warehouses, and the four of them close in. cutting through containers Steph whispers instructions over coms, "Robin and Arrowette head for the roof, Duke with me!"

She had been an active hero for the longest -if only by a few months, and not counting Damian's previous experience- so they are encouraged to defer to her in combat, but this is also the first time she has had a team to lead since the incident.

Fortunately, they seem to follow her lead. Dami and Cissie, grappling up onto the roof. Duke runs alongside her towards the side entrance of the warehouse. Steph pulls out a boom-o-rang -after looking down to make sure she has a hold of it- and throws it at the door. 

Bang!

Duke is first through the door Steph hot on his heels. Inside she spots Clayface, Hatter (with a hat on no less) and another guy who may or may not end up as a hostage, but before they can do anything else, Damian and Cissie smash through the skylight above and land alongside them ready for battle.

"Oh yes! yes!" Tetch says, panic edging into his voice, "Clayface, protect me. shield me."

Clayface charges forward and tosses a container at them like nothing more than an empty cardboard box. In the background, Tetch leads the other man away. The four of them dive back to safety, and the container comes to a halt in a screech of metal and concrete. 

What is this place? what is Tetch up to?

"How would we know?" Duke replies to Steph's questions that she didn't realise that she had voiced.

"Right. I'll go find that out. Arrowette, Robin, run interference against Clayface. Signal try to track down Tetch. Don't engage if you can help it. Just track them."

Steph slips through the containers to a console as the sounds of explosions, blades cutting through mud, and roars echo around the building. And as she moves in, she spots Duke in the background slipping into a side passage in the back of the building. Unfortunately, Steph doesn't manage to do more than grab a controller off of the side before Clayface catches up with her. 

He makes a lunge at her, clay arm cracking the ground where she was stood just a moment before. She lands on his arm as he pulls it back for his next attack and rides it past him before jumping away from him as she strikes again. he raises his arms into the air ready to bring them down to crush her. But before he can Damian drops in out of nowhere slicing the arms from his body, and follows up by slicing a leg away making Clayface tumble to the ground. Steph has time to grapple away into the rafters before Clayface regains his footing.

In a moment she takes in the scene below her; Damian still slashing away at Clayface keeping him disrupted, Cissie keeping him covered with bow shots, and Duke is still nowhere to be found, but that's expected. But before she can make a plan as to where to go next, she realises that there is something up here with her. the little red flashing lights wink at her from the _explosives_ attached to the upright that hold up the roof. Looking around Steph sports many, many, many more. This whole place is rigged to blow. And time is almost up.

"Everyone out of the building now!" 

Damian and Cissie, just start running, not pausing to questions Steph's panicked command. 

As she drops Duke shows up again, "I lost Tetch and whoever he was with! they just disappeared!"

"Worry later, we need to go!" Steph says pointing for him to follow Damian, the entrances they made were too far, so he had blown a hole in the wall. Steph turns at the exit after the others have run through, "you too Clayface, Hatter's gone, you need to too."

But Tetch's control is too strong, all clay face can do is repeat; "Must protect hatter!"

Steph knows she may be able to argue him down -or even use the controller she found- but there is no time. The bombs are going to go off any second.

With a last pained look back at Clayface, she turns and sprints away. Her feet almost feel like they are skimming over the ground, even before the wind blowing past her suddenly swaps direction and blows her world tumbling forward.

The others are caught in the shock wave too, and they all land hard crashing into the solid concrete, skidding and rolling to a stop. Steph wants to say that it hurt, but she couldn't feel it. She pulls herself to her feet, slowly steadying her breathing.

"Clayface. he..." Cissie says a little way behind her as they all turn back to look at the smoking ruins, "he didn't make it."

"I... I think he is going to be fine." Duke replies eyes sweeping the ground, in a way that makes Steph think that he is seeing more than they can.

"And real pissed at Tetch," Steph adds before realising that Damian has come over to her and is holding onto her arm. And that her arm is covered in blood!

"You need to be more careful, Brown." 

She swears he genuinely sounds hurt by seeing her injured, even if it isn't that bad. he gets out a wound kit and starts cleaning her arm, behind him Cissie and Duke busy themselves; mopping up her blood and tracking Clayface respectively. 

"you know I remember a _certain someone_ saying something about real names in the field..." Steph says smirking as he glares at her and applies disinfectant wash a little more harshly than is needed. She puts on a good show of flinching and sucking air through her teeth as though it hurts even if it is more of a distant tingling. leaving him to his work, she taps her coms with her other hand, "hey Oracle-"

* * *

"Wait, back up. you said you were injured?"

Steph rolls her eyes -of course, they fixate on that part- but she can also feel herself smiling. It's not like they have much experience getting hurt, "It's fine, it's not too deep." she says bringing her arm up onto the table so they can see the bandage wrapped around her arm, just above her elbow, "It missed the joint area, so it's probably not even going to scar."

a gentle hand reaches across the table and gently runs over where the cut is, Steph can feel the warmth even through the fabric. "does it hurt?"

"Nah. itches a little but it's really not too bad."

After a few more moments the hand is withdrawn, and Steph takes the chance to gulp her coffee. It had started going cold while she'd been talking, but fortunately, it is still warm enough to ease her sore throat.

"What happened after you called Oracle?" the girl sat next to her asks, "Were the cops a nightmare? I know they took down the bat sign." 

Steph glances around the little cafe they are sat in. the booth behind her is empty, as is the one across from her and in the next one is a group of workmen laughing and joking among themselves. The blond waitress is behind the bar brewing another pot of coffee, along with the owner- a large square-jawed man with a stained apron- who is working under one of the lights shining down on the bar. All the while the city of Metropolis is just as bustling as ever. No one seems to have noticed the less than conspicuous comment. No cops coming to hunt the vigilante. 

She shakes herself, trying to clear her paranoia. Despite all the fear-mongering from Godfrey, most people don't care _that_ much. "not at all. We still have ways of talking to them, and them us. The spotlight is more for other people, it's really not that big a deal. but yeah, they showed up along with the fire brigade so we mostly stayed out of the way until B showed up to catch Clayface then- remember that controller I grabbed- yeah, we used it to make sure Tetch couldn't mess with him again."

"So a happy ending then."

"Well, not too bad at the very least." Steph says stifling a yawn, "that said Dami and B ran off quite fast, they said something about a meeting. anyone would think that they are hiding something from us."

"You know Tim said something similar."

"How..." Steph feels a knot tighten in her stomach. She and Tim haven't properly talked for a while. he was one of the ones there when she woke up after the incident, but they had only seen each other a couple of times since, "how is he doing?" 

There is a sudden feeling of tension over the table and Steph immediately regrets asking. It's silly that she worries about him, It's not even like they are dating any more -not that she would get back with him even if she had the chance- and now it is even more silly that she is asking one of his new teammates about him. But she is still glad when the response comes.

"Good. I think. The Titans are good for him. we keep him on a short leash when he is being dumb!" 

Steph laughs as their other companion asks, "oh, right you're with the titans now. How has that been? I mean I've seen the news but..."

"well-"

Steph cuts across the answer to flag down the waitress as she goes past, "Hey could you grab us another round?"

"Sure. That was a; white, black, and chocolate with cream. Right?" 

as they confirm their orders and she goes back to the bar Steph spots her shiny ring, it looks like gold but it probably just some silly Metropolis thing and she doesn't pay it any more mind as she turns back to the person sat next to her, "so the Titans then Cassie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is such a fun story to write, I hope you all continue to enjoy it.
> 
> the first half of this chapter is about as much cross over as there is going to be in this fic, i thought is was good to have that grounding at the start so everyone knows where we are at, but other than this we will be doin our own thing with very little overlap.
> 
> you will also notice that I was trying a slow reveal kind of this with this arc, not sure how great it is but i think it has the effect i wanted it to.


	2. A Soldier I Will Be: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie tells tales of the Titans

"You know what the weirdest thing is? having an actual rogues gallery! I know you guys know a lot more about that than me, but gate city has never had any; and with Diana, it never feels like there is much of a set rota. It's just so crazy that a fight can get routine."

hhh

"Please tell me you pair up!"

zzz

Cassie looks at Steph, eyebrow raised, but then she remembers that Steph will get this better than almost anyone. She gives her a nod.

silly

"yasss!" Steph says, laughing loudly enough to make quite a few other people glance over from where they sit, "tell me everything!"

no

Cassie can not help but smile a little as she recounts the story, "well the main group we have been up against call themselves; Hive Five." 

weak

"Well, at least it rhymes, even if that's all they have going for them."

nothing

"and it means they split up nicely into one-v-ones -we mostly go out in groups of five- but they mixed things up recently. They always sent a guy called 'Private Hive' -basically a Guardian rip off- against me but last time we fought I think I hurt his ego and _may_ have made him quit..."

broken

"oh, storytime!"

* * *

  
The Mayor had called them when Hive five showed up at the city museum, not a normal target so the Mayor thinks they must be after something specific. the Titans arrived just as the Hive five are leaving.

soon

"Now Jinx. You know better than to steal from a public building, it's just rude." 

fight

Jinx freezes at the base of the steps, with the rest of Hive five behind her. They look around as they realise that The Titans are all around them. 

open

Cassie is on the far right side, by the museum, ready to cut them off if they try running back inside. Starfire is across from her, able to back her up if needed. Directly in front of Hive Five is Tim, facing them down, his plan is for them to rush him so that the rest of the titans can crush them from all sides. and that just leaves Bunker and raven who are filling the gaps -raven between Tim and Starfire, and Bunker between Tim and Cassie-. Both of them how powers that let them protect the cops behind them -keeping civilians out of the way- from stray attacks; and as well as being able to support Tim quickly. 

battle

They had been expecting them to panic or at the very least knocked off balance but, Jinx just smiles and raises her hand, in which she is holding a talisman shaped like an eye with a large red crystal in the place of the pupil. Cassie can feel a wave of energy wash past her that make the armour fidget beneath her skin, but she can also feel the effect -whatever it is- roll off the armour, like water off wax. of the others only Raven seems to have noticed, and she appears to be pooling shadow on herself. bad. kill kill kill  
before Cassie can shout out a warning to the others -who are just looking confused at Jinx's display- Jinx yells, "Hive Five. Eat 'em alive!"

hahaha

Cassie rolls her eyes hard, this is a bit ridiculous. Private Hive is rushing towards her, but behind him, she sees that the rest have paired off differently than normal. Not that she gets much time to ponder it as Private Hive takes a swing at her. she side steps then blocks his next attack before dropping low and trying to sweep out his feet, he blocks it in turn, but it forces a little space between them. She takes the chance to ask, "So no swap for me?"

weak

"Don't need it. I can match you normally, add a little Jinx magic and you don't have a chance."

fake

So that's what it was. Cassie is only half paying attention, trying to work out what is going on in the rest of the battle. It doesn't seem to be going well. Jinx has Tim on the defensive with her magic, so he can't get close enough to fight back, and his gadgets seem to be playing up. Gizmo has Starfire trapped in some kind of robotic arms that are keeping her from throwing star bolts. Doctor Light is blasting brilliant white light into Raven so hard that it is burning through her shadows as fast as she can make them. And last See-more has Bunker locked in a weird green bubble, he is trying to use his psy-bricks to force it apart, but See-more keeps poking him with lasers so he can't focus.

attack

In her moment of distraction, Private Hive grabs her right wrist and pulls it across her body; leaving her open for him to try and punch her in the head. Reacting at super-speed Cassie catches the blow with her other hand less than an inch from her face.

destroy

with a yell, he pulls her a little off-balance as he leaps into the air and brings his knee swinging into her neck. The blow would have laid anyone low short of a Kryptonian or someone wearing armour. But Cassie's armour comes with her. 

haha

Needle spikes of pain erupt from her neck moments before the impact as the armour forms a protective bevor to block the attack. 

no

"Huh?!" he is stunned by the momentary confusion of the impact failing to do anything to her. Taking advantage of the fact that he had to give up his footing to attack, she throws him over her head. 

break

He comes down with a crash knocking the air from his lungs. Before he can even begin to recover, she throws him high over her again, smashing him into the ground. 

kill

All the fight knocked out of him she tosses him away towards the police line. he bounces twice before skidding to a halt when he hits a police van.

pah

With a single movement, she pulls her lariat free from its place bound to her waist. With a flick of her wrist, it flies out past Gizmo and binds one of the arms holding Starfire. With a second flick, the arm is rent apart.

shatter

"Hey hey hey! No fair!" Gizmo wines turning to look at her in annoyance, but in so doing he completely misses the lariat looping around him until too late. he tries boosting away with his jet pack, but it is far too late. "Get off!"

ha.no.

She feeds a spark of rage and an atom of her soul to the armour to call forth a bolt of Zeus's lightning with a crack that splits the sky asunder. 

destroy

His jets cut out dropping him in a steaming heap onto the ground, "hey no fair. It's meant to be one on one! Stupid thug! Fine, I'll get you!" he starts tabbing at his control panels but to no effect. "why isn't it working!?"

pathetic

"Magic." she isn't lying. Magic is antithetical to technology. And in this case, that means no tech for Gizmo. Cassie turns away from him as Starfire rips free of his restraints. 

next

Next up she heads to see-more, who has also spotted that she has taken down two of his compatriots. "stop right there!" he yells as he turns the knob on the side of his helmet, spinning his eye to a bright red one. 

fire

Cassie can feel the blast of heat hit her, but it is distant, the armour consuming it, keeping her cold. She raises her right hand as she advances. The armour has grown to cover her hand, down to her elbow; a raging, demonic face marking the back of her hand as it closes around See-more's helm. He tries to yell as she picks him up, but doesn't get much of a chance as she slams him back down into the ground. He goes limp before she needs to slam him down again.

death

Next up, doctor light doesn't seem to have noticed that she has dismantled everyone up to him. In fact, he is so fixated on trying to blast through Raven's shield that he doesn't even notice as her lariat grabs him until he is flying backwards. Cassie steps aside as he flies passed screaming. 

weak

He bounces away, flying thirty feet back, towards the police line. The officer who was about to put a collar on Private Hive freezes on the spot as Dr light smashes into the van next to him, then slowly clips it around doctor lights throat instead.

haha

Cassie turns back to the last of Hive Five still standing. Jinx. 

attack

"oh no you don't!" Jinx says as Cassie takes a step towards her. The waves of pink energy blast into her. Cassie blocks them, crossing her wrists to brace against the force. 

oh yes

The blasts themselves have little effect, shimmering off the armour, like waves breaking on the prow of a ship. but the armour...

wrong

The armour is fighting back. It wriggles under her skin, wrestling against her control.

kill

She feels herself slipping away. Inch by inch.

destroy it

Locking past her elbows and up her arm.

kill all

Pinning up against her throat.

blood

Spines piercing her brow.

alien

Pain and blood.

blood and pain

Then it's all over. she takes deep breaths as her vision clears. Jinx is pinned to the ground with Tim stood over her. Cassie's feet are still planted where she was standing when Jinx attacked her, Arms still held in front of her. Lowering her arms to her side Cassie can feel the others moving nearby. 

all

She is not sure how long it takes for someone to notice her. Eventually, it is Tim who breaks her out of her stupor. With a gentle hand against her -bare- arm. She doesn't even jump -just sway slightly- trying to refocus to the present.

weak

"You doing okay?" he says in a quiet voice that doesn't carry to the other Titans or the emergency service personnel who were working to collect the remains of the Hive Five. 

many

"I'm... I'm fine... just need some air..." she realises that she is still swaying slightly -like she's tipsy. She wipes her forehead, brushing her fringe out of her eyes, her skin feels clammy and clawing. she tries to shake her head, but her brain doesn't seem to keep up, it just rattles around loose and not quite attached to her body. "I'll meet you back at the tower."

fly

She steps into the air rising high above the city, far from the problems far below. The sea wind rolling off the pacific washes past her as she flies back towards the tower. She heads in through the roof access and goes straight to the showers. When she gets out she changes into casual civvies; dark tights with gold star, grey skirt, red and blue shirt with golden 'W' on the chest, and a light brown hoodie with a matching symbol. The rest of the Titans are in the main room when she enters.

thing

"ah, and here is the hero of the hour!"

mad

"oh, Mrs Mayor, I'm sorry I kept you waiting." upon the large screen is a woman in her mid-fifties with nearly shoulder-length, greying hair parted around her face, she is wearing a simple -but smart- tailored suit. The rest of the titans are scattered around on the chairs, the only one missing is Skitter, but that's not a surprise.

slow

"I completely understand Drusilla, you pushed yourself very hard, of course, you were tired." -

* * *

"Wait. Drusilla?" 

hide

Cassie sighs, "yes. That's what she calls me. We needed to give them I.D.s, so they would be okay with us, Tim is calling himself Alvin Draper, and I'm not sure about the others. Starfire, Raven, and Amethyst don't need to fake anything -not being from around here- and I have no idea how bunker and skitter work things out."

twist

"that makes sense."

sense

"got to be nice having the Mayor on side," Steph says sounding a little bitter

threat

"it's not a sure thing, lots of people want us gone. that last election was close, and her opponent basically just ran on kicking us out."

danger

"Okay this is getting depressing." the third person at the table interjects, "how about you get back to your story."

nothing

"I mean there isn't much more to say." Cassie replies, "We discussed Jinx cursing us -I told them I resisted because of my heritage- but that was about it."

haha

"you haven't told them about..."

us

"The Titans know some, but I didn't think it was wise to tell the Mayor of the city who is protecting us that I'm fused with an unstable, magical superweapon -Skitter is bad enough as is. But even so, we have worked out some more about it.

enemy

"like I think it has some kind of relation to Raven. When I first got to the tower she had less control over her powers than she has now. Whenever she went into a room she would end up dampening everyone's emotions. but for me, it just aggravated the armour a lot."

danger

"you think it might have something to do about her dad?"

know

"how do you know about that?"

what

"#JustBatThings"

pss

"Please don't say 'hashtag' out loud. No! don't encourage her!" Cassie tries to moan, but the others are lost to a giggle fit. After they quiet down she asks, "you done? Great. 

finally

"So Raven's Dad, I don't know everything, but I'm pretty sure that he is a big bad evil guy from some other universe, who does normal 'Evil' stuff -conquering, killing, exploiting locals, that kind of thing- and he raises his kids to be his weapons. So a grade 'S' asshole Dad."

bad

"Wait there is a rank above 'A' now?"

mmm

"For assholes that try to kill their own kids." Steph suddenly darkens when Cassie says that. Only a moment too late does Cassie realise why, "sorry, I shouldn't joke about that."

ta

"I'm fine." Steph insists before changing the topic, "any other leads."

blood

"Well, there was something that happened when we went up against Brother Blood. His magic was interfering with Raven's, so she didn't come, but Skitter and Amethyst did...

* * *

They didn't have any way to ambush this time, so they would just have to take the direct approach. Which was just fine for Cassie. Their main worry was Brother Blood using mind-controlled hostages to attack them. So their plan was to rush, quickly but together, get to Blood, Take him out. Break his control.

power

Cassie was facing onto the large stone door to Brother Blood's inner sanctum. Flanking her are Tim, Amethyst, and Bunker is behind her, ready to back them up. At the top of the door, Skitter is attached to the door frame with sticky web, upper body hanging down to the door four arms -splitting at the elbow of all places- braced against the door to help push. Starfire is flying over their heads ready to help push too, thanks to the doors great size she has plenty of room between Cassie and Skitter. 

soon

"Everyone ready?" Tim asks. Each of the others gives an affirmative one after another. at last when it is just her left to respond she catches Tim's eye and gives him a nod before bracing her hands against the door. "okay. Three. Two. One. GO!"

now

on his command, Cassie leans her weight into the door. Digging her heels into the ground hard enough for them to dent the solid rock below them as she pushes into the door. Above her, Starfire and Skitter both push too, with grunts and hisses of exertion.

weak

she can feel the door start to give. There is a grating of stone, and the door slips from its frame. As it does Cassie leaps into the air to push the top first, so the door doesn't fall on to them. As the door topples into the room she rides it down with an almighty CRASH that shakes the whole room. She braces against the impact, one foot directly under her with the other back slightly to stabilise, and punches her fists into the door.

blood

In the heartbeat between the door crashing down and Tim, Amethyst, and Bunker catching up she scans the room with a quick glance. it is everything you would expect from a cult of blood. The circular walls literally drip with blood and several rings of faceless, hooded figures face inwards towards a ritual circle in the centre of the room that takes up almost half of the space. At the far side -grinning at them expectantly- is Brother Blood himself, a demonic like bone helm, brightly coloured clothing, and a dramatic cape flowing behind him.

magic

she can feel it too, but it's too late to change the plan now, all they can do is- as Tim yells, "Titans GO!"

the enemy

they move together in a tight pack, Skitter skittering ahead, Cassie in the middle with Tim to her right and Amethyst to her left, and Bunker following up with Starfire flying above them hands burning with fire. But there is no rush by the cultists, no attack comes to keep them from their master.

is here

She almost thinks that she was wrong. That he is just being insane, that there is no trap. And that is the moment that she is proven wrong.

hahaha

She can feel it a moment before it hits. A pulse of magic rippling through her blood. And the armour flaring in response.

this?

She tries to dive forwards at Brother Blood, but she doesn't even make it to skitter before the magic hits.

pathetic

There are cries all around as they all drop to the floor grasping their heads in pain.

as if it would work.

Cassie tries to fight it off, but the magic overwhelms her.

the power of the enemy,

Her last thought as the power wipes her mind.

is nothing but death.

"It never sounded so coherent."

and death has come.

* * *

"And that's the last thing I remember." Cassie says back in the warm Metropolis diner, "the next thing I know, I am stood over the pool of blood behind where Brother Blood was standing and all the others -including the city council and the other hostages- were coming round."

victory

"do you really remember nothing else?" Steph asks. She is leaning into Cassie, who can feel the sleeve of her top brushing against her arm.

soft

Cassie tries to ignore the intensity of Steph's attention and focuses on trying to remember anything she can. Kneading her forehead with her fingers, she says, "there are little things... the Armour took over, I remember that. Then I can see Brother Blood looking at me in fear... I think he got the other Titans to attack me, I remember them holding me back, trying to drag me down... the Armour did something I think. Several of the Titans and hostages had injuries that they don't remember getting.

blood

"After that, I think Brother Blood fled through the blood pool. The Mayor asked Zatanna to come and have a look at it, she said it was a massive store of magic, but also that it had been destroyed, or specifically 'overloaded with incompatible power'"

destroy

"you think _you_ did it?"

know

"well that's what Zatanna thinks -she does know about my being able to summon lightning- and she also is pretty sure that Brother Blood did escape through the pool. so that is something we will have to deal with later."

welcome

"Well, now we are back to being needlessly depressing," Steph says leaning back in her seat. 

pah

Cassie is both relieved to no longer be the centre of that much attention, but also strangely disappointed. “Story of my life.” Cassie mutter under her breath. 

weak

Cassie feels a foot knock hers under the table, but before she can say anything Steph asks the third occupant of their table, "so... you got any fun stories?"

no

"No... you know the team doesn't get up to as much as before."

alien

Cassie can tell she is deflecting, so she reaches across the table and brushes the fingers holding onto the hot chocolate mug, "I heard of something you are involved with..." she looks across at her confused before Cassie adds, "a little photoblog?"

see

"Oh that, that's just..."

geh

"Come on, we've had our turns," Steph says, "Now you're up Sups."

zzz

"I mean, well if you insist..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so researching Cassie was hard, her personality is all over the place and her most common characteristic is 'cardboard love interest'. the armour is from the new 52 stuff, while i tried to get most of her personality from post one year later teen titans and the cartoon. i haven't gotten around to catching up with the new yj comic but that is something i need to do too
> 
> hive five is a straight rip off from the tt cartoon, but i had to play around with thema bit to make them fit with yj cannon. and the same goes for the teen titans themselves (so no cyborg or beast boy) instead bunker and skitter (n52 tt) and amethyst (yj comic) join.
> 
> cassie took the name Drusilla in the wonder girl comic that wasn't very good. 
> 
> brother blood is mostly like his comic incarnation not his tt one.


	3. A Soldier I Will Be: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's turn in the hot seat.
> 
> it's hot because of all the flirting

"so... I don't know where to start..."

"at the beginning?" Steph jokes, Kara finds herself smiling as Steph continues, "but really, why did you start an alien photoblog. when, where, how... who? -don't know how 'who' would come up, but..."

Kara laughs again before replying, "well as for why: I've only been 'here' for a year or so -I think, I'm still working on getting used to your dating system- and Kal has been off-world almost that whole time so, I've been... a lot more isolated than I was before."

"want about Conner?" Cassie asks

Kara looks away and bites her lip, "that's my fault. I didn't realise he was a clone and -I'm not excusing what I said- but on Krypton, cloning was the worst crime someone could commit, and... and I wasn't very polite when I found out. I don't think he is angry -even if he is entirely in his right to be- but, it has made things... awkward."

"Okay, that makes sense,"

"well about six months or so ago, Raquel told me about a bar in National City that is run by aliens, for aliens. so I went there... but they thought I was human..." Kara lets the others shocked laughter die down before continuing, "it was really embarrassing, and I panicked, so I didn't tell them. and also Kal told me that I would have to be careful with my identity because some people don't like him and may come after me by proxy, so instead I told them I was doing a 'Humans of New York' type thing. 

"at first nobody was interested, but the Barkeeper volunteered, turns out they are a white Martian who came to Earth to escape discrimination, and now has a great life here. There couldn't have been a better first person. But even so, it still took ages for anyone to notice, that was until Bruce Wayne talked about it publicly, now people are offering up their stories from across the world, Japan last week, Europe next, it's incredible."

"So is it working? Steph asks, "are you feeling less 'alien'" 

"maybe... I mean it's nice meeting all these people doing so well so far from home, but now I'm 'the alien ally' and that... hurts. I know that silly -I get to go to all the alien places, and everyone is super welcoming- but they still treat me like something I'm not, and that makes me feel even more alone than just being alone. and I have no idea how to fix it without making everything worse." 

Simultaneously both Cassie and Steph reach across the table and take one of Kara's hand. Kara turns hers so she can hold theirs back. They sit like that for a few moments before Kara realises that she is crying, "great now I can't even wipe my eyes."

"We could... okay." Steph starts trying to remove her hand, but Kara squeezes just tight enough that she can't slip it out. 

Kara shakes her head. She doesn't want to let go. A moment later, Kara feels something brush against her cheek. She opens her eyes to see Steph dabbing her face with a handkerchief.

"Sorry, did I get your eye?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Where did you even get that from?" Cassie asks gesturing with her hand that isn't squeezing Kara's at the handkerchief, "please don't say you have your belt with you."

"Nah, got guy's jeans. They've got _pockets_! And my buts tiny enough for them to fit."

"I think your but is perfectly sized!"

"Now Cassie anyone would think that you make a habit of admiring my behind!"

"That suggests that your ass is the only part of you that I have the habit of admiring."

Kara can feel her face getting warm at the other's exchange. She looks down at the blue and white chair and bumps her knees together under the table. She hopes that the others don't notice, but no such luck.

"aww, Kara, are we making you blush?" Steph says squeezing her hand

"Shutup!" Kara moans, pulling her hands from theirs so she can cover her face. She can hear them laughing -good-naturedly- at her embarrassment. After they quiet down, Kara moves her hands still pouting at their smiles, "can we talk about something other than Steph's ass."

Steph laughs again before suggesting, "what about how you came to Earth? I don't think I was ever told about that."

"Really?" Kara asks, "I think Tim was there."

"He didn't tell me everything about his missions, and besides I would prefer to hear about it from you."

"Well, The story is a bit more involved."

"Oh, you know how I love storytime."

* * *

The mist of gases fills the chamber, slowing her heart rate and lowering her body temperature, as it does she can feel her mind slowing too. The pod's engines continue to burn as they pass low orbit, it would be more efficient to push out the apoapsis from the periapsis, but time is of the essence. But now she can't remember why... the gasses are getting to her...

Oh yeah. She thinks as a pulse beats through the ship.

The pod rocks and pitches forward. 

Oh no. the navigation...

...

Bright. 

Noise. 

It's so loud she can't think.

She puts a hand against the side of the pod to try and stabilise herself. Through the white noise, she can hear the pod opening to the atmosphere. The air that floods in is warm. Her eyes are gradually getting used to the light streaming in from above. There must be a star close to this world, G type. The air is breathable too, so there is almost certainly life. Her father said they were aiming for Earth, where she could help her cousin. But who knows at this point.

She pulls herself up looking out above the rim of the pod. There seems to be a roof above them, but it is crumbling, primitive metal bent and collapsing. She can hear animals. They must be close they are so loud, chirping and scratching and screeching against her eardrums. There is also beating noises, four close, all around her, and more further off. It's all so loud. Make it stop!

Suddenly there is something pointed at her face. Her eyes snap open focusing on the point, narrowing back way from the world. It's not much of a point though. It is a blunt block, ejection ports at the front and more to stabilise on the sides, the function seems to be to apply a large force to whatever it hits. At the moment it is held steady in a primitive elastic launching device. The person holding it has long, dirty blond hair and a strange kind of red and black gear. Maybe a warrior of some local group, but why such a primitive weapon, if they are capable of making something as (comparatively) advanced as the weapon's tip.

She pushes these thoughts from her mind, this needs to be treated as a first contact. Even if she doesn't know where Kal is, she is still a member of the science guild. Even if Krypton... NO! can't go there. Not now.

She takes a steadying breath and very slowly raises her hands to show that she is unarmed. Still moving very slowly she says in a calming voice like she used to use on Comet when he was agitated, "I mean you no harm. My name is Kara Zor-El. I am a member of the science guild of Krypton. We-"

Kara stops as the moment she said 'Krypton' the person she is facing jumps and lowers her weapon. The then look away saying something to a new figure. He is dressed in similar gear to the first but rather than a weapon he has a long cloak draping from his shoulders. Could he be a leader? He doesn't _look_ more fearsome, but maybe it is a spiritualist thing...

He taps his ear and turns away slightly before talking like he is using a coms device. The weird thing is that Kara can hear an echo of his voice. Nearby. Somewhere below?

A moment later a new pair of figures jump up through an opening in the floor. They shouldn't be able to jump like that. There is too much gravity. One of them has dark brown hair pulled back behind her head, dark grey suit with a symbol on the shoulder. but she doesn't focus on her for long because the other looks just like a younger *Jor-El!*

She pulls herself out of the pod. But she ends up going too high, almost flying through the air. She feels stronger than she remembers, or maybe the gravity is a lot weaker than it seems. She comes down a lot harder than she expected, and her legs crumple beneath her. 

Before she fully hits the ground arms grab her, keeping her up. Looking up it's him, concern all over his face. She almost laughs, didn't her dad tell her to look after him, "Kal? is that really you?"

He narrows his eyes in confusion but doesn't bat away the hand she pressed against his face.

"oh, of course, you don't know any Kryptonian! Okay, this is fine, I read about a mission to this planet, there might still be a base we can work from. Then I don't know, we can't get too close, but you..." she feels a burning frustration building in her chest, why was this all so poorly planned? It's just a mess!

"Stop."

"You know Kryptonian? How? Where?"

He looks focused, just like Jor-El did when he was working on a project. Maybe he doesn't know much Kryptonian then, but still, this is a good start. The boy in the cape says something but Kal-El snaps at him before looking back at her and saying, "name... you..."

"okay grammar could do with some work!" he blinks a few times before Kara points at herself and says slowly and deliberately, "Kara Zor-El. I'm your cousin Kal... Family..."

He stops her again and replies, "No Kal. Kon-El" 

She starts in shock at the name. Why would he? And who did? How? What?

Before she can start to articulate any of her many questions, the doors to the building burst inwards and more people run in carrying primitive weapons. They yell and open fire!

The wave of noise hits her. She desperately tries to cover her ears to keep the sound out. But it is too much. The pain in her head is overwhelming. Kon-El had let go of her to cover the boy with the cape. The others are behind her, the one with the elastic launching device is hiding behind Kara's pod, and the other seems to be protected by a force field. 

Kara can feel projectiles bouncing off of her skin, not that it hurts. It's the noise that is drowning every thought from her mind. But there is something it can't stop. The rage. 

How dare they. 

She lost her whole world. Was sent across light-years of space. Only for it to be in vain. Then these people attack without the slightest provocation or warning. 

How. Dare. They! 

She can feel the burning as tears coming to her eyes, and her rage pours forth.

The wave of fire blasts them away. But she can't see. Everything is fire.

Something grabs her wrist, but she throws it off. She clenches her eyes tight shut against the building pain. Yes, from her eyes, they do feel like they are on fire, but that is nothing compared to the black hole in her chest. Everything she has ever cared for is gone. Her parents. Her whole family. Everything she had worked for in the science guild. All the friends she had made. All nothing but dust on Rao's wind. 

She drops to her knees, tears re-hydrating her parched eyeballs as more bands hold her still but the fight has already left her. 

As her senses come back to her, she can feel a hand pressed against her cheek, and she can hear her name. For a moment, it is almost like it is all a bad dream, her father is waking her up in their home. But this isn't their home. It's a burning ruin on some alien world so far from everything she ever knew, and it's not her father, it's a- self-confessed- 'abomination'.

Over the next few moments, she becomes aware of the others moving around. The caped boy is treating the people who attacked them, but she can still hear their heartbeats -pounding deafeningly loud- so at least she didn't kill any of them. The others are searching the building or watching her as she sits up against her pod, she doesn't know what is going to happen next, but can't bring herself to care.

Even as the girl with the weapon finds something, and calls the others over. But Kara doesn't move from the side of the pod. As their panic becomes obvious, her curiosity pulls her to take a look. Jor-El always said it was her superpower. 

There is a box that she hears the others describe as Krolotean. Not that that is helpful, she knows that they just steal tech. But as she gets a closer look, she can see exactly what it is.

* * *

"And after I dealt with that we went up to the watchtower and M'gann used her telepathy so we could speak properly. Then they told me about Kal -Superman- and about Conner being a clone..." her voice trails off as she finishes.

"Wait what about that bomb? It was a bomb right?"

"Kind of. It was an unstable muon reactor. They are messy if they meltdown. But, I mean I made one when I was... about six/seven earth years old, but stable and useful. So disabling it was easy enough."

"Show off," Cassie says, bumming her leg into Kara's under the table.

After that their convocation dries up. Dusk is starting to creep up on them, and Steph had told them that she needs to be back in Gotham before then. Cassie was meant to have the day off, but she still says that she wants to get back to Titan's Tower. 

Kara was feeling a bit left out, to be honest. She hadn't been allowed to go on many missions with the team. They said she lacked the stealth training to keep up on the heavy covert missions, which is all they seem to have at the moment. And on top of that Kal hadn't let her go on the league mission to space. It was so annoying, she had been sent to Earth to look after him and now _he_ feels _he_ has to protect _her_. 

She knows it is because she is so young. She had had to prove herself time and again on Krypton too. But she had. She remembers how many people had cheered on her induction day, sceptics and advocates both. And now... now all of them are-

"You know? we should do this again?" Steph says, cutting through Kara's musings.

"Meet for coffee?" Cassie replies, sounding confused.

"Well yeah, but more than just that."

"You should have bought that cake. I know you were eyeing it." Kara says smirking, memories of the past, all but forgotten.

"Not that! well, a bit. But I mean the three of us going to kick some ass together, rather than _just_ talk about it afterwards." 

Kara likes the idea- anything to get out some more- but Cassie shakes her head, "no can do. Not without messing up the thing the Titans have going, and it would bring down a lot of heat on the bats too."

"Not if we get secret, _secret_ ID's!" 

"Well, this is getting complicated," Cassie replies sarcasm dripping off her words 

"Maybe we should take notes," Kara adds smiling

"I'm serious." Steph says, "we could get a _tonne_ of good done, working _together_. Just think about it." She steps through the door in a wall that hides the zeta tube, but before she shuts the door to be teleported away, she turns back to them and says, "One of these days something is going to happen, and then _everyone_ will remember why we have heroes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry to everyone who knows Kara from cw's supergirl, i didn't watch past season 2 and even then was only when they came out so i don't remember much. the Kara here is mostly from the comics. the biggest single draw being 'being super' plus a load from other comics and a movie or two, but the backstory of her being top science is from one of the comic timelines.
> 
> the idea for Kara having a photo blog came from a post by 'karalovesallthegirls' on tumblr, it's not going to be a big thing but i wanted to add it.
> 
> anyone have thoughts on the 'slow reveal'? personally i'm not sure it's something i would do again, at least not like this. but hey, that's why i'm trying things here.

**Author's Note:**

> as i mentioned at the end of Painted Black that there would be two stories running in parallel (of which this is the second), each of the stories will alternate, updating an arc at a time (with a few days between each chapter). it should only be about a month and a bit between each set of updates.
> 
> finally I wish to thank you for reading <3


End file.
